An Inquest
by Aussiegirl41
Summary: "When the president asks for an inquest into a death, we have an inquest into a death." An A/U drabble series.
1. Chapter 1

**A drabble series written for the a/u challenge for the LJ comm ar_drabbles.**

**Title: Public Inquiry**

"I don't understand."

Since her Public Litigation Office appointment Members of Cabinet occasionally, and Quorum representatives even more often, had attempted to offer her _advice_. The President of the Twelve Colonies interfering, however, was a step up the rung of power she hadn't been expecting.

"What's to understand? When the president asks for an inquest into a death, we have an inquest into a death."

"The death wasn't sudden. It had been a long illness. There was no autopsy. The body was cremated. No possible exhumation."

Her boss waved away her concerns. "So, we interview the doctors as to the patient's physical and mental condition at the time of death. There was a recent change in the will, you said."

"Yes, but..." She passed across the piece of paper stating the name and occupation of the new sole beneficiary. "Not very suspicious, if you ask me."

"Oh, I'm confident we can dig up some dirt," the man opposite her claimed. "Enough to get a judge interested."

She raised her eyebrows. "I didn't expect you to immediately jump through hoops for the President's office. You're not usually so accommodating to authority."

He rose, his expression hidden behind a pair of dark glasses. "Just start the ball rolling," he ordered, flashing her one of his trademark enigmatic smiles.

"Yes, sir," she agreed with a flippantly performed salute in his direction as he left her office.

She spent a long moment watching him through the window, noting his limp became more pronounced once he closed the door behind him and mingled with the staff in the outer office.

Eventually she looked away, and with a sigh went through the motions, finding a new file, marking it with today's date, her name, and that of the deceased: _12 Janus 5267, Didi Cassidy, Laura Roslin._


	2. Initial Interview

**Part 2: Initial Interview**

Miss Partridge preferred discretion and led the way to Doctor Markhem's office. She perched primly on a chair behind the doctor's spotlessly clean desk. Her visitor slid awkwardly into the leather chair opposite.

Yes, she would do her best, under sufferance, for the doctor's sake. He was an oncologist whose methods and knowledge could not be bettered anywhere on Caprica, resulting in a long waiting list and no time to answer frivolous questions from a PLO lawyer. She knew, however, there was no such thing as an innocent inquiry. Inquiries led to inquests. Inquests led to possible court cases, criminal charges, or civil suits. And most worryingly, they led to tarnished reputations. This would never do.

No, the patient hadn't been a regular patient of Doctor Markhem's prior to 5265.

Of course, she could easily locate the patient's file. Her filing system was simple and efficient.

(At this point, Miss Partridge pursed her lips, and held her interrogator's gaze steadily, making no move to retrieve the file in question. She had not been asked to, after all.)

Yes, the patient did seek treatment after the initial diagnosis, but they also ceased it a mere six weeks' later. No time at all to show results.

Yes, of course she saw the patient after they left Doctor Markhem's care. She did own a television.

No, she did not see the patient in person afterwards. The patient never returned to Doctor's surgery.

No, she had no other memories or comments to make about the patient, other than to offer the opinion the patient had embarrassed women the Colonies over after making those ridiculous allegations against President Adar. Such a wonderful president. No need for an impeachment. The truth was obvious.

She thought Laura Roslin had probably been high on chamalla at the time.


	3. Alternate Treatment

**Part 3: Alternate Treatment**

"How's the Roslin enquiries going?"

Didi balanced the phone between her chin and shoulder. "Fine," she answered cautiously.

"Who have you interviewed?"

"The oncologist Markhem. Well, his nurse actually."

"And?"

"And I have an appointment with Roslin's personal assistant this afternoon."

"And?"

"And that's it."

"You've done one interview? As usual, you're dragging your feet."

She ignored his dig. "I did some research. Into chamalla."

"The drug?" he asked slowly.

"No, the dance," she replied dryly. "Yes. Markhem's nurse claims Roslin took chamalla, which is still only an experimental drug for cancer patients today, let alone in 5265. The problem is its array of side effects: hallucinations, paranoid episodes, extreme insomnia, delusions of grandeur... The list goes on."

"Adar's people never found out? They would've given their eyeteeth for even a whiff of that information."

"Exactly."

"So, the nurse was either lying, or Roslin's supporters kept one _very_ big secret. Wonder what the doctor who treated her after Markhem will reveal. She was treated at CCF Hospital afterwards?"

"Yes, which is odd in itself. She goes from a private clinic to a military hospital. As we know, Fleet hospitals aren't limited to treating only military personnel. They accept anyone who's worked in civil service, including Cabinet members. But we also know Laura Roslin died a very rich woman. She could afford to stay with Markhem instead of attending such a crowded hospital."

"So, did she leave Markhem because he wouldn't give into her demands for alternative therapy? Or for some other reason?"

"Or did someone coerce her to change? Let me tell you about the doctor who took over her care at CCF. He wasn't a cancer specialist at all, but a physician who'd transferred to the hospital from a Battlestar. Would you like to guess which one?"

"Galactica."

"Jackpot."


	4. Aide and Abet

**Part 4: Aide and Abet**

Didi watched as Tory Foster walked away with a brisk and purposeful stride. She gave the impression she had somewhere important to go, but Didi was now sure this was all an act.

Didi had noted Foster's old fashioned suit, peeling handbag, and less than chic hairstyle as soon as they'd met, which had been here, in a coffee shop, instead of Foster's apartment. Didi was not as quick with her observations as her boss, but even she could glean Foster was not currently flush with success. It had become quite obvious as they'd talked Foster had only agreed to today's interview in a vain hope Didi would remember her name should an opening come up at the Public Litigation Office.

Instead of returning to the office Didi ordered another coffee - short black, no sugar - and took out the notes she'd made during the interview. She'd only jotted down what she'd had no issues with Foster reading over her shoulder. Now she wanted to record some more confidential observations for later reference.

_Chamalla?_ Didi had known little of the drug before this case, and had taken several hours to research its uses and history. Although Foster had denied Roslin had taken it, she'd been easily able to participate in the subsequent discussion about the drug which Didi deliberately initiated, indicating prior knowledge.

_Date Foster ceased working for Roslin?_ One would think it would be a simple question with a simple answer, especially given Roslin's health, but Foster had been vague.

_Personal relationships?_ Didi had only brought this subject up as an icebreaker, and Foster had instead turned to ice. She was hiding an inappropriate lover? A child?

_Billy Keikeya?_ Foster wouldn't be drawn into any discussion about her predecessor.

Didi decided to investigate the details of the boy's death further.


	5. Uptown Downtown

**Part 5: Uptown Downtown**

The stale stench of smoke and beer slapped Didi in the face as she stepped through the bar room doors. A row of men, all wearing a uniform of flannel shirts, faded jeans tucked into ornately decorated boots, and caps stamped with farm machinery company names, propped up the bar. Most ignored her entrance, not taking their eyes off the television set above the bar, but the couple who did look over their shoulders immediately called out to the barmaid.

"Copper or parole slut," one of them grumblingly added.

A gaunt blonde emerged from a coldroom behind the bar.

"Lawyer actually," she corrected her clientele.

Didi gave them all a thin smile and resisted the urge to go outside and check the address. Surely she wasn't in Caprica City anymore.

The barmaid directed her to a stool at the end of the bar. Apparently this would be as much privacy as Didi could expect.

"That poor boy threw himself in front of a bullet for me," the barmaid attested dramatically following Didi's initial queries.

"For you?"

"Well, for all of us." Ellen Tigh leaned forward, her augmented breasts threatening to fall out of her stringy t-shirt. "He was there for Dee. He'd met her at the Decommissioning."

Didi frowned down at her notes. "I don't have a Dee."

"She was there. So was the prodigal son."

Didi cocked her head to one side. "Lee Adama knew Billy beforehand?"

"I believe they'd met. Lee wanted to know Dee better, if you know what I mean, and Billy already _knew_ her."

"Oh."

"Billy got a bullet in the chest and died. While the golden-haired child got a superficial wound in the leg, become a hero with the press, and got the girl. Something fishy there, don't you think?"

Didi could only nod.


	6. Public Legacy

**Part 6: Public Legacy**

"You're reading a book? Don't you ever do any work?"

Didi marked her place before giving the man in the doorway a cool smile. "Don't you ever knock?" She flipped the book around so he could read the cover.

"_Play by Play_," he read out. "A top ten bestseller never. Any new insights into our leaders in love?"

"I'm pretty sure neither of them was in love."

"So cynical," he berated. "What do you say the affair was about then? Power? Money?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "Roslin's life was work. Adar was at work. Circumstances drew them together. Boom."

"Unfortunately I rarely boom with my co-workers."

"Wonder why. Anyway, Palacios praises Adama a lot in the book. Says he was the man behind the woman."

"There always is one."

She rolled her eyes. "Claims he was a catalyst for everything. She dismisses the teachers' strike, the Union negotiations, the cancer, even Adar's marital status as reasons for the relationship breakdown. Claims Roslin would have resigned quietly, and maybe even kept sleeping with Adar, if not for the trip to the battlestar."

"She did make history upon her return."

"Yes. Adar was impeached, forced to resign, and later committed suicide."

"Roslin had withdrawn completely from public life well before then."

She flicked to a section she'd highlighted. "_Although Laura Roslin was never officially President of the Twelve Colonies, I believe one day people will realise she is the mantle on which all subsequent presidents should be judged._"

"Ms Palacios was so profound."

"It made me wonder. Our current president is worried someone might start making comparisons? What are we really investigating here?"

"We just keep digging until we hit rock bottom, as my dear mother used to say."

"Mrs Lampkin was also profound," Didi murmured as Romo left her office.


	7. Citation Needed

**Part 7: Citation Needed**

"Life would be simpler if computers were linked."

Liz, a Caprica City Records Centre senior clerk, ignored Didi's grumbling. Lawyers and law enforcement agencies' representatives whined about the situation regularly.

"70 hits on Bill Adama, 3523 on Commander Adama," Liz informed Didi, handing her a printout.

Didi took out a marker and started highlighting what microfiche she would need to locate, using the differing dates as her guide. "I didn't want to go home tonight anyway."

"212 on Zak Adama."

"Zak died in a Fleet accident," Didi remarked. "There was an inquest."

"62 on Leland Adama, and 571 on Lee Adama."

"Our Caprican Quorum representative. That explains most of his mentions."

"42 for Evelyn Adama. 2978 for Joseph Adama."

Didi blinked. "The father? Is that an error?"

Liz checked her computer screen again. "No, that's what I have here."

"Who was Joseph Adama that he turns up in the newspapers almost as many times as his son, a Battlestar commander, Cylon War hero, and partner of the woman who brought down the government?" Didi asked breathlessly. "What are the related searches?"

Liz's flew over the keys for a moment before she answered: "Name searches are Evelyn and Commander Adama, of course. Plus Sam Adama, Tamara Adama, William Adama."

"William Adama is Commander Adama," she reminded Liz.

Liz shook her head. "No, it's dates before he was alive. Also Shannon Adama, and Daniel Graystone."

"Graystone Industries Daniel Graystone?"

"Graystone Industries is listed under Joseph Adama's related searches, so yes, I would assume so. You sure you don't know this Adama, Didi? He's listed as an author of two series of law books."

"No. I'll need the names of those books."

Liz frowned at the screen. "You might also find this interesting," she murmured. "Joseph Adama has another related search: the Ha'la'tha."


	8. Double Jeopardy

**Part 8: Double Jeopardy**

Lee Adama was carefully ambitious. Parading his wealth to his constituents wouldn't win him any votes come next election. As such, the house he and his wife shared was only large enough to be described as comfortable rather than ostentatious.

Still, he employed a cleaner and a gardener, allowing his wife time to spend her days helping in his office. In the evenings she attended various charity functions, graciously supporting his new career. Her history made her perfectly capable of participating in conversations regarding politics, religion, and the Colonial Fleet. This, combined with her unique beauty, ensured she was a popular guest.

Courteously Mrs Adama was able to squeeze in an appointment with Ms Cassidy. No, her husband would not be able to join them. He would be on Aerolon, negotiating a trade deal.

Anastasia Adama broke the ice with the lawyer by joking about their names, causing Didi to almost choke on the coffee she'd accepted.

Eventually Didi overcame her shock from learning Anastasia was the 'Dee' Ellen Tigh had talked about to ask a question: "Were you surprised by the details of Laura Roslin's will, Mrs Adama?"

"Not particularly. Ms Roslin had no family to inherit."

"Her assistant, Billy Keikeya, was the original benefactor," Didi mentioned smoothly.

Her hostess's chin quivered. "Yes."

"The terrorist cell responsible is still at large?"

"Other than the ones killed at the scene, yes."

"Sesha Abinell, Kern Vinson, George Chu, and Sharon Valerii."

"Sharon?" Mrs Adama gasped.

Didi checked her notes again. "Yes?

"But I thought..." Mrs Adama folded her hands in her lap and quickly composed herself. "I'm sorry... I try to block most of that night out."

"Of course," Didi murmured, diplomatically agreeing with Mrs Adama's excuse for her odd behaviour. However, it seemed there was yet another death to investigate.


	9. Prime Suspect

**Part 9: Prime Suspect**

Didi pinned a temporary security pass onto her jacket before following a guard through a series of automatic doors, each marked with a warning that only Number One Corporation personnel should proceed further.

The fifth door opened onto a platform which offered a view of a workshop. There, about a dozen employees wearing bright orange overalls wielded spanners in amongst Colonial Fleet spacecraft in obvious need of repairs.

Didi was easily able to pick out the specialist on the deck below who answered the call the guard made from a telephone near the door. As her interviewee hung up the phone, he murmured something to a young redhaired girl working beside him. The girl then watched her co-worker's ascent to the platform with anxious eyes.

While the guard waited a few discreet steps away, Didi introduced herself to Galen Tyrol and related a few details surrounding her investigation, including how she needed to interview him after learning he'd collected Sharon Valerii's ashes.

"Boomer and I served on Galactica together. We were... Intimate. Then I found out she was also seeing Helo, her ECO."

At Didi's baffled look, Tyrol politely explained his jargon.

"So you broke up?"

"You could say that. Next time I saw her was on a slab in the morgue beside Roslin's aide."

"The police had called in Commander Adama to negotiate the release of the hostages," Didi remarked.

"I don't hold the old man responsible. I know he did his best to save her."

"Valerii was with the terrorist cell though."

"He was still there for her."

"I don't understand."

"He loved her like a daughter. You'd know this, right, if you've been investigating the old man?"

At her blank look, Tyrol shifted from foot to foot. "Maybe I'd better explain about Adama and his family ethics."


	10. Unforeseen Development

Part 9: Unforeseen Development

Didi closed the medical tome, stood, and stretched her arms above her head. Two weeks into her investigations into Laura Roslin's death and she was no closer to presenting a viable case before a judge.

She crossed her office to the whiteboard and picked up a marker, scribbling Laura Roslin's name on its centre. Next to it she wrote Commander Adama's name, and beneath, those of his son and son's wife. She linked Billy Keikeya to both Roslin and Anastasia Adama; and Doctor Sherman Cottle to both Roslin and the Commander.

"And where do you fit into all this?" she asked as she wrote the name Sharon Valerii on the board, linking the supposed terrorist's name to Keikeya and Adama.

She heard the door of her office open and shut. Her visitor's dull footsteps indicated they were male, or at least a female not wearing heels, which eliminated Didi's assistant, the only other person who would enter her office without knocking.

"I don't understand why she would stop seeing an oncologist and go into a Fleet Medical Officer's care," Didi commented without turning.

"To please her new lover somehow?"

"I'm not sure she was the type," Didi remarked as she pointedly wrote the names of the former President and Vice President on one side on the board.

Lampkin came up behind her and began to pin photographs next to the names on the board.

"Oh my Gods," she gasped.

"What?"

Didi scurried to her desk and read over a section in the medical book again.

"What?" Romo repeated.

She rustled around her notes and pulled out a photograph of Roslin wearing a headscarf.

"Diloxin," she whispered. "It causes complete hair loss."

"Yes," Lampkin agreed slowly.

"_Complete_," she stressed. "She still has her eyebrows and eyelashes. She never underwent diloxin treatment."


	11. Secret Service Agent

**Sorry this took so long! Work has been craaaaaazy. Hopefully life is back to normal and I'll have some time to catch up now. **

_Part 11: Secret Service Agent_

Didi slid into a seat at the back of the hall. Today's guest speaker's subject was the Colonial financial crisis.

No more than ten minutes into the talk, she lost concentration and instead looked around at the students in attendance. They slouched, fidgeted, doodled... Slept?

Didi again tried to turn her attention wholly to the man behind the lectern.

It soon became obvious her planned interview was unnecessary. Any suspicions she or her fellow lawyers had would disappear should this man take the stand. He might be a good man, possess many virtues, but she couldn't see him inciting the masses or stirring the passions of voters. Laura Roslin had been correct. He would have never have won the election after his caretaker term.

Nevertheless, Didi found herself exchanging a bland smile and small talk with him once his lecture was complete. (Question time had blessedly been brief.)

Up close she noticed he tried to hide his lofty height by hunching his shoulders. That, along with his thin hair, made him appear much older than she knew him to be.

She steered their conversation straight to what she thought was the only mystery he could help her with now.

"I don't know why she publicly backed one of Adar's best friends," he insisted.

"What did she tell you at the time?"

"Some garbage about preventing Tom Zarek's preselection."

"Did you ever discuss it afterwards? After she publicly declared the president incompetent."

"No. I never got past the goon squad again."

"Goon squad?

"Adama. He wouldn't let me see her."

"He did that with other people?"

"Everyone. Even the President, who'd been offering her medical advice before he took office. Adama found some legal loophole with that doctor of his... Cottle? And then even President Baltar wasn't allowed near her."


	12. Persuasive Precedent

**Part 12: Persuasive Precedent**

Returning to her office, Didi found a newly-delivered envelope. She slit it open and shook out its contents onto her desk blotter. It contained a thick beige-coloured file. She eagerly opened it, ignoring the faded red confidential stamps on its cover.

The first few pages were notes and letters printed on Markhem's letterhead. Next, a request for Roslin's medical records to be sent to CCF Hospital, care of Major Sherman Cottle.

There were mentions of biopsies, scans, and surgeries. One part caught her eye: a double mastectomy. There was no mention of diloxin, or the mysterious chamalla.

President Baltar, then still Doctor Baltar, was listed as a consulting specialist in attendance. He had been studying the genetic links of breast cancer, and so a series of notes followed with regards to Laura Roslin's mother: what operations she'd undergone, what doses of diloxin had been administered, the side effects she'd suffered through, her date of death.

Didi flicked back a few pages, checked the date Judith Roslin was diagnosed and quickly did the math. She then referenced the hospital admission dates. There were many long stretches.

"Hang on," she murmured before scrambling over to where Lampkin had dumped the pile of photographs and newspaper clippings. Eventually she found one with a full-faced woman standing beside her daughter. They both sparkled towards the camera.

"There would have been physical changes when she underwent diloxin treatment. Not to mention the mental and emotional changes..."

Didi pinned the mother/daughter photograph onto the board, next to the incriminating one of Roslin wearing the headscarf. Below there was a photo featuring a smiling Laura Roslin with Commander Adama by her side, gripping her arm possessively.

Didi folded her arms, took a step back and stared at the couple.

"Could it be as simple as that?"


	13. Lawyers' Discretion

_I'm just happy I found the time to write 300 words at least. No time for apologies!_

_Title: Lawyers' Discretion_

"Love," Didi announced dramatically. She'd just entered Romo's office without knocking, deciding to follow his lead on this usual courtesy.

She'd obviously surprised him. He flushed and fumbled around with the file on his desk. "Huh?"

"I think Roslin was in love with Adama."

He slid the file into a drawer and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. She'd hit some raw nerve of emotions? Try as she might, she couldn't imagine him grappling with love.

"I'm not sure if you've elaborated enough on this epiphany for me," he eventually prompted.

"You watched your mother slowly die from diloxin. You're traumatised. Especially given the tragedy you'd already suffered beforehand when most of your family passed away."

"Agreed."

"So, a few short years later, while still suffering a type of PTSD, you're diagnosed with the exact same disease. You would probably hesitate to seek treatment too."

"But you do." He paused. "She did. I mean, initially she did seek treatment, with Markhem. Can we stop talking in the second person?" he barked.

"That was before you met the man of your dreams," Didi went on, ignoring his grouching. "And you fall in love. Thus, you refuse to die a slow death, with no quality of life. You refuse diloxin. You decide to love; and live. As such, you decide to die."

He leaned back in his chair. "Then why the charade with the wig and the scarf?"

"Responsibility."

"What?"

"If the public know you had given up on your own life without even the slightest fight, would they follow you in a fight against a man they'd voted into office?"

"No."

"Exactly. You hide the truth from the public so that you can appear stronger than you are. Or weaker, depending on your point of view."

"So you're saying..."

"Adama killed her."


	14. Injunction

_Part 14: Injunction_

The Caprican Court House's public bathrooms were unisex and usually busy. The one Didi entered, however, was eerily empty, and as such every noise she made echoed harshly within its stainless steel walls. Her heels cracked against the tiled floor; the pipes emitted a high pitch scream when she flushed; the stall's door hinges creaked despite their polished well-maintained appearance.

As she rinsed her hands, she couldn't help but use the mirror to check behind her. Then, a moment later she jumped when the water made a belching noise after it had spun down the drain. She laughed at her own stupidity and jittery nerves as she waved her hands under the dryer.

She turned to leave, but her path was blocked by a tall woman she knew to be the President's Chief Aide and suspected mistress. Didi would realise later that the roar of the hand dryer had masked Shelly Godfrey's approach.

"Miss Cassidy, I hear you've been asking a lot of questions lately about one of the President's past patients."

Patient? Laura Roslin? Baltar classed Roslin as his patient?

"President Baltar-"

"Wants you to stop." Didi shuddered at the unnatural pallor of Godfrey's skin due to the unreal blondeness of her hair. "I don't know what game you and Lampkin think you're playing, but you both need to remember elections are still another twelve months away and we can make life very uncomfortable for you if you continue this ridiculous witch hunt."

"I don't understand. You-"

With speed and strength opposed to her rakishly thin frame, Godfrey gripped Didi's arms in a vice-like hold which would leave bruises, and pinned Didi against the wall. "Quash the inquiry," she hissed. "Do not initiate an inquest. People have only just forgotten Roslin's rantings, let's leave it this way, shall we?"


End file.
